311. The Atom – A Love Affair; movie review

THE ATOM - A LOVE AFFAIR
Cert TBA

89 mins
BBFC advice: TBA

"Now, everyone, our task of the day is to make a movie about nuclear energy interesting. Any ideas?"
I could imagine the brainstorm among the film-makers faced with trying to spice up the anecdotes of scientists and politicians.
Presumably, one bright spark would have responded with: "Let's add a bit of romance."
They would then have gone on to explain that on one side of the love affair was the human race and on the other was the atom.. or nuclear energy.
I'm sure the concept made sense at the time.

Vicki Lesley's film stays faithful to the notion of devotion to the atom, going through chapters of a rollercoaster relationship which finally ends in betrayal.
Movie clips are intended to simplify what is often opaque science-speak by the contributors.
Let's face it, nuclear energy may be an important subject but its analysis by very clever people doesn't make for great entertainment.
Its story begins just after the Second World War when all that was known about the atom was that it was used in the devastating destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
It takes us through the 50s and 60s when nuclear was seen as an increasingly viable alternative form of energy to coal and particularly oil, during the crisis of the early 70s.
Therefore, it highlights how nuclear power stations were developed across the world but particularly in America and in the UK.
Curiously, little is said about the arms race which seems like a giant miss.
Anyway, the case for nuclear became more and more compelling until it was literally blown up by the catastrophe at Chernobyl.

And then it returned and, most strangely, the Chinese ended up building power stations in the West.

The Atom- A Love Affair is packed with contemporary footage to complement its narrative.

It is an interesting chronology and is definitely thought-provoking but it tries too hard to be accessible and its romance just isn't very .... errr... romantic.

Reasons to watch: Nothing is more important than how we provide energy

Reasons to avoid: The love story angle is strange

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 6/10

Did you know? Atoms are incredibly small, measuring one-tenth of a billionth of a metre across. They are so small that you can’t see them even under a powerful microscope. Because they are so small, it takes trillions of atoms to make up anything, for example, there are 7 billion billion billion atoms in your body.

The final word. Vicki Lesley: "I decided I was going to make an independent feature documentary on something that mattered. I could never have imagined then the epic journey I was embarking on, one that ten years later would only just be reaching completion." 

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